Khamzat Chimaev: Joe Rogan shares honest take on Khamzat Chimaev moving up to light heavyweight, lauds UFC star's wrestling skills

UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan praised Khamzat Chimaev on the latest episode of his podcast.

Rogan was speaking to UFC star Brendan Allen and the pair discussed Chimaev’s performance and rise in the UFC.

‘Borz’ is now the UFC middleweight champion after an impressive win against Dricus du Plessis. However, Chimaev isn’t done with one division and plans to move up and become a two-division champion.

The next move is to fight in the light heavyweight division after he has one more fight in the middleweight division.

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Rogan thought that moving up a weight class would not be a problem before lauding Chimaev’s wrestling skills:

”I think he can do it. I think he can do it if he takes time and puts weight on… cause he is tall and also the thing is these gaps in wrestling, these gaps in grappling, when the guy’s a really good grappler, when you are taking on Dricus [du Plessis], who is really a striker. He is a good grappler, a good jiu-jitsu guy but there are levels and the kind of guy like Khamzat, like man, you gotta be a f****** Olympic level wrestler to scrap with that guy.”

Check out Joe Rogan’s comments (1:24:12):

Khamzat Chimaev claims Alex Pereira doesn’t want to fight him

Khamzat Chimaev has called out current UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira several times in the past.

However, Pereira is keen on facing Jon Jones at the UFC White House card next June. While Pereira vs. Chimaev would be an incredible clash, ‘Borz’ doesn’t believe that will take place.

Chimaev was speaking to ESPN MMA and claimed that the UFC doesn’t want this fight to happen. He also believes Pereira is the less popular fighter between the pair:

"I don’t think he wants that fight. He knows about it, and UFC knows about it. I can’t say the things UFC says, but it’s going to be no respect for Alex, because everyone knows this guy is not my level... He knows it. That’s why he’s running away."